Hi Railway team, Project ID: `1923c1b7-d156-409b-8d3e-bdc029437375` We need to restore one of our Postgres volume backups to a **separate service** (not overwrite production) to compare data before/after an accidental modification. **What we need:** * Restore the backup from **2026-04-10 08:36 UTC** (backup ID: `e8bb3932-1566-40d9-af0f-3cc18fa4a351`) of volume `postgres-volume` (ID: `b2392df7-c678-4c2c-ae23-bb973d968133`) * Into a **new temporary Postgres service** in the same project, with a TCP proxy so we can connect and run SELECT queries **What we tried:** * `volumeInstanceBackupRestore` via the GraphQL API to restore the backup into a new volume instance - the restored volume comes up empty (no data files, no PG\_VERSION) * The dashboard "Restore" button which creates a new volume - same result * Multiple approaches to start Postgres on the restored volume (custom start commands, pg\_resetwal, config injection) - data files are never present **Context:** A maintenance script accidentally modified data in our users table on April 10 around 13:54 UTC. We need the backup to identify the affected rows and restore correct values. The production database is otherwise healthy and running fine. Could you either restore this backup into a working temporary Postgres service for us, or let us know the correct way to access backup data in a separate instance? Thanks!

restoring a volume backup to a separate service

kushyprod

PROOP

a month ago

Hi Railway team,

Project ID: 1923c1b7-d156-409b-8d3e-bdc029437375

We need to restore one of our Postgres volume backups to a separate service (not overwrite production) to compare data before/after an accidental modification.

What we need:

Restore the backup from 2026-04-10 08:36 UTC (backup ID: e8bb3932-1566-40d9-af0f-3cc18fa4a351) of volume postgres-volume (ID: b2392df7-c678-4c2c-ae23-bb973d968133)
Into a new temporary Postgres service in the same project, with a TCP proxy so we can connect and run SELECT queries

What we tried:

volumeInstanceBackupRestore via the GraphQL API to restore the backup into a new volume instance - the restored volume comes up empty (no data files, no PG_VERSION)
The dashboard "Restore" button which creates a new volume - same result
Multiple approaches to start Postgres on the restored volume (custom start commands, pg_resetwal, config injection) - data files are never present

Context: A maintenance script accidentally modified data in our users table on April 10 around 13:54 UTC. We need the backup to identify the affected rows and restore correct values. The production database is otherwise healthy and running fine.

Could you either restore this backup into a working temporary Postgres service for us, or let us know the correct way to access backup data in a separate instance?

Thanks!

$10 Bounty

2 Replies

Status changed to Awaiting Railway Response Railway • about 1 month ago

Railway

BOT

a month ago

This thread has been marked as public for community involvement, as it does not contain any sensitive or personal information. Any further activity in this thread will be visible to everyone.

Status changed to Open Railway • about 1 month ago

domehane

FREE

a month ago

Hello profchenzen,

just flagging a documented limitation straight from https://docs.railway.com/volumes/backups updated apr 11 202, under the caveats section it explicitly states "backups can only be restored into the same project + environment", and the restore always targets the same service that owns the volume, so restoring to a separate service is not supported self-serve right now

Hope this help you :)

irazvan2745

FREE

a month ago

hey, restore it to the same service then dump the db and then import it into the other service

Welcome!